NEW DELHI: In a relief to hundreds of homeowners who bought flats in Thazhambur, the Supreme Court on Wednesday vacated a long-standing status-quo order and criticised the Tamil Nadu government for delay and inaction. It observed that the state had been “dragging its feet” despite multiple inquiry reports and cannot now seek to undo decades-old land transactions at the cost of innocent homebuyers.
The court ordered the state government to immediately provide water and sewerage connections to the 450 flats in one survey number, saying occupants cannot be denied fundamental amenities due to procedural delays.
The issue pertains to hundreds of families who bought houses in Thazhambur, which is located near OMR (Rajiv Gandhi Salai) IT corridor, with many of them purchasing homes worth Rs 30-Rs 60 lakh with their hard-earned money and taking loan.
However, the properties were caught in legal problem after it was unearthed in around 2019 through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that more than 100 acres of government anadheenam land was illegally assigned to individuals between 2008 and 2019 and the scam involves officials ranging from tahsildar to IAS officers.
The verdict has brought significant relief to major stakeholders whose projects were stalled, including a popular private developer who had undertaken large-scale residential projects in the area. An Army Welfare Housing Organisation, which had built 852 flats for soldiers and officers, was one of the affected entities with many registrations blocked due to the status-quo order.
Around 21,657 plaints received were addressed
Of them, only 17 are pending. About 74,270 complaints have been received through call centres from districts, and 52 remain unresolved.
A State Contact Centre (24/7), staffed by a team of 30, is operational and can receive complaints via the toll-free number 180042521950. A similar setup is also functioning in the Districts as District Contact Centre 1950 with the District STD Code. Around 21,657 complaints were received and addressed.
The Master Control Room is operational, effective April 20, with 18 District Revenue Officers and their teams manning them. They will also monitor poll day activities through live webcasting arrangements at 75,064 polling stations (1 inside and 1 outside; total 1,50,128 cameras), coordinate with the districts, and receive reports from the District Election Officers/Returning Officers.
Uphold citizen’s welfare: SC to state
A “professed welfare state” cannot attempt to undo land transactions from decades ago at the cost of citizens who have invested their hard-earned money into building houses, said the apex court bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran